Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Book Summary and Reviews of True Sisters by Sandra Dallas

True Sisters by Sandra Dallas

True Sisters

A Novel

by Sandra Dallas

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • Published:
  • Apr 2012, 320 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

In a novel based on true events, New York Times bestselling author Sandra Dallas delivers the story of four women - seeking the promise of salvation and prosperity in a new land - who come together on a harrowing journey.

In 1856, Mormon converts, encouraged by Brigham Young himself, and outfitted with two-wheeled handcarts, set out on foot from Iowa City to Salt Lake City, the promised land. The Martin Handcart Company, a ragtag group of weary families headed for Zion, is the last to leave on this 1,300-mile journey. Three companies that left earlier in the year have completed their trek successfully, but for the Martin Company the trip proves disastrous. True Sisters tells the story of four women from the British Isles traveling in this group. Four women whose lives will become inextricably linked as they endure unimaginable hardships, each one testing the boundaries of her faith and learning the true meaning of survival and friendship along the way. 

There's Nannie, who is traveling with her sister and brother-in-law after being abandoned on her wedding day. 

There's Louisa, who's married to an overbearing church leader who she believes speaks for God.

There's Jessie, who's traveling with her brothers, each one of them dreaming of the farm they will have in Zion.

And finally, there's Anne, who hasn't converted to Mormonism but who has no choice but to follow her husband since he has sold everything to make the trek to Utah.

Sandra Dallas has once again written a moving portrait of women surviving the unimaginable through the ties of female friendship. Her rich storytelling will leave you breathless as you take this trip with Nannie, Louisa, Jessie, and Anne. This is Sandra Dallas at her absolute best.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"One shortcoming is the novel's sometimes one-dimensional male characters, who are pompous, selfish, or weak. But the focus is on strong women and the beautiful relationships they can create even in impossible circumstances. As such, this is a memorable story." - Publishers Weekly

"Solid for discussion groups." - Library Journal

This information about True Sisters was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Diane S.

Sister Wives
It is 1856 and Mormons from all over converge on Iowa City to start their journey on foot to Salt Lake City and the "Promised Land.' Another emotional read for me, the hardships, deaths, these amazingly strong people, was just heartbreaking. I became so enmeshed in these characters lives, their sorrows and joys, their hopes and fears, that it was hard to turn away from this book. I am so glad that I did not live back then, don't think I could blindly follow my husband , nor put aside myself in blind obedience. I loved the women and the way they helped each other and each others families but I am not sure I will ever understand the Mormon faith.

Suzanne G.

Mormon pioneers
Converts to the Mormon faith leave England and Scotland to settle in Salt Lake City, Utah. They begin their trek in Iowa using hand carts rather than wagons. We learn of the hardship, sadness and losses endured on their trip west from four women who are singled out to tell the story. Not being a Mormon, I couldn’t take offense at the authenticity of the faith of which Sandra Dallas wrote, as have many reviewers. So the history, about this time, was interesting for me. I had no idea hand carts were used by those who moved west. I thought settlers used wagons and trains! Where have I been? I loved the book.

Beki

For true stories go to the right source.
This is fictional so it portrays lds men as lustful polygamists who are dishonest and domineering. I know there are always going to be people who don't live a principle in the spirit it was given or under the direction of the Lord and give things a bad name. Many of the rlds reformation of the church and other groups of people continued to live polygamy and just chose wives it wasn't a call from the Lord and it was defiled in a way. Sandra is a great story teller and skilled writer and went to work to get history timeliness right but is for sure bias in her opinion as to how the saints lives played out I believe. For the true stories which some are still hard to read but nevertheless factual read Saints a 4 volume book series written by church historians its wonderful.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Sandra Dallas Author Biography

Sandra Dallas, dubbed "a quintessential American voice" in Vogue magazine, is the author of over a dozen novels, including I>Prayers for Sale and Tallgrass, many translated into a dozen languages and optioned for films. Six-time winner of the Willa Award and four-time winner of the Spur Award, Dallas was a Business Week reporter for 25 years covering the Rocky Mountain region, and began writing fiction in 1990. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Denver and Georgetown, Colorado.

Link to Sandra Dallas's Website

Other books by Sandra Dallas at BookBrowse
  • Where Coyotes Howl jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more historical fiction...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...
  • Book Jacket
    The Rest of You
    by Maame Blue
    At the start of Maame Blue's The Rest of You, Whitney Appiah, a Ghanaian Londoner, is ringing in her...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.